To help each participant grieve and complete their unfinished business caused by a death, divorce or any other significant emotional loss.
This powerful and dynamic experience is the most productive programme being offered anywhere on people’s reaction to loss. The programme is the most sensible, accessible and authentic plan available for recovery from loss. For anyone who is grieving, the programme offers Grief Recovery® tools that work for any kind of serious loss.
Spread over 12 weeks, each 2 hour session will involve sharing the results of actions already taken and actively listening to the other participants. There is some reading involved outside class and most weeks you will need about an hour to complete the tasks you have been given.
Most people have ideas about “group work” from watching TV dramatised versions of group therapy, I know that so far every single person who has been on the group programme has commented on how different it was to what they expected, how enjoyable it was and how much they got from learning from the other members of the group.
Many fear that “listening to other people’s problems is depressing” while we won’t deny that sometimes it can get emotional in the room the over-riding view is that the sessions actually help a more positive feeling because we’re not simply venting our problems we’re taking actions to solve them.
One of the common behaviours amongst grievers is to isolate themselves. We’re taught from a young age that if “you cry you’ll cry alone” Taking part in a group is the single most effective way to combat the isolation. Having said all that if you really can’t face a group, or simply the days or times don’t work for you then a one to one programmemaybe for you.
You will need your own copy of The Grief Recovery Handbook available online from this site or if you prefer call me and I’ll take your details over the phone.
Places in each programme are strictly limited to a maximum of 8. Payment is by credit or debit card and can be done over the phone. If you have just missed the start of the course please call me to discuss if it is appropriate for you to join that group or wait for the next one.
Most programmes are run at my home in Kempston Church End near Bedford where I also run my nutritional therapy practice. There is plenty of free parking, comfortable seating and is very private.
In terms of distance I’m 20 minutes from Milton Keynes, 30 from Northampton and Luton and under an hour from Cambridge. However, if you are part of an organisation that may be interested in running groups at your own premises or other venues please call me on 01234 862218.
Since there are so many different types of therapies, it’s difficult to give a single answer to this question. Grief is the normal and natural reaction to loss; grief is not, of itself, a pathological condition nor a personality disorder. Grief Recovery® is primarily an educational, or re-educational experience, based on the fact that most of us were never taught effective tools for dealing with grief.
This is the most difficult question facing grievers. Part of the problem stems from the biggest single inaccurate idea that we were all socialised to believe: that "time heals all wounds." Time does not heal. Actions can help discover and complete unfinished emotional business. When can I begin to discover and complete all of the things that I wish had ended "different, better or more," and all of the broken "hopes, dreams, and expectations" about the future? The answer is immediately. While most therapies suggest that a gap between the loss event and starting therapy is a good idea we know the opposite to be true in grief recovery. Starting sooner means that memories are fresher and less likely to be distorted. This is crucial as we can only become complete with the truth.
Unresolved grief tends to take people "out of the moment," In practice it can mean lapses in concentration, loss of confidence in the ability to make decisions and can leave you drained of energy.
Unresolved grief tends to close our hearts down. Since we’re incomplete with a prior loss, we almost automatically "protect" ourselves by not loving again. More accurately, we limit our loving exposure and thereby doom a new relationship to fail. Commonly, grievers will hide their true feelings for fear of being judged.
Where isolation is the problem, participation is a major component of the solution. The Grief Recovery® Outreach Programme is the ultimate participation aimed at discovering and completing the unfinished emotional business that fuels the isolation.
Many grief groups provide an environment for people to verbalise the thoughts and feelings they experience following a loss. While there is benefit to that kind of expression, often it is not enough. Generally it will have a short-term benefit and not address the underlying issues of "incomplete emotional" communications that sustain unresolved grief. The Grief Recovery® programme addresses the incompleteness so that there is long-term benefit.
